Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Read about Featured Author Elyse Salpeter on Day 4 of February's Fantastical Reads Event!

Elyse Salpeter is the Featured Author Today for February’s Fantastical Reads
Event.I’ve read her newly released novel
Xanadu and fell in love with the characters.Her writing is smooth and delicious to read and the character’s are very
three dimensional.Here are some
interesting tidbits you may want to know about Elyse.

Author Elyse Salpeter - Bio
Elyse Salpeter is the author of seven novels and a host of short stories. What
she loves doing is mixing "the real with the fantastic" in her books.
She loves taking different scenarios and suddenly creating worlds where things
just aren't what they appear to be.

Her Dark Fantasy Series, THE WORLD OF KAROV and THE RUBY AMULET take us to
other realms filled with magic and evil... THE HUNT FOR XANADU is about a young
girl on a mission to avenge her parents, murdered in their quest to find the
mystical land of Xanadu.

Her two YA novels, FLYING TO THE LIGHT and FLYING TO THE FIRE are represented
by Peter Riva from International Transactions. These books are about a young
deaf boy who knows what happens to you when you die and now people are after
him for the answers. The books are fast paced thrillers that keeps the reader
on their toes, never quite knowing who, and who not, to trust.

When she's not writing, she's cooking, working out, running after her twins and
crazy ferret and gardening - you just can't have enough flowers!

I am so glad to have you here, Elyse.

Q: Have you always wanted to be a
writer?
A:I actually alternately wanted to
be a doctor, an astronaut, an architect, and an anthropologist. Oh, and I loved
to write, but I never thought I was any good. One day in my twenties, I just
decided to write a book that had been shuffling around in my head. It was a
really bad first draft, but I got the bug and haven’t stopped since.
Q:Do you listen to music when you
write? If so what do you like to listen to?
A:“Silence is golden.” That is my
motto – I love to be in my room, it’s quiet and it’s just me and my laptop.
Q:Can you tell us about your writing
process?
A:I’m part plotter and part panster.
I have a beginning to my books firmly in my mind, a direction that I want to
go, and usually an ending. How I get to the ending is something I can’t tell
you. I’m like that right now, 75% into a sequel. I have no idea how I’m tying
everything up yet! So for me, I put the book down and kind of mull it around
for a bit, waiting for my muse to make a decision. She usually comes around in
a week or two for a really sticky problem.
Q:What made you decide to go indie?
A.I had been published by a small
publishing company that went out of business. The two young adult books with
that company were picked up by a literary agent who is now representing them,
but I had other books in my portfolio that he didn’t want to take on. Instead
of doing the arduous process of submitting to agents, waiting the
excruciatingly long lengths of time to hear back, the rejections and simply the
entire grueling, heart-wrenching process, I decided to learn this industry and
publish them myself. I still have those two YA books with the agent, but I’m on
my third indie published work and used these books to learn about social media.
Q:How long did it take before you
felt like you'd "made it" as a "real" author?
A:It took two full years after
having the first book published to be able to tell someone “yes, I’m an
author.” Before that, I kind of felt like a “hack.” I’m not able to do it full
time yet, but after publishing multiple books, and learning the process, I
finally can accept that I am far from being a hack.
Q:If your book were made into a
major motion picture, what actors would you like to play the major characters
in your book?
A:I picture the actress Serinda Swan
as Kelsey Porter. As I wrote the book, I created a 26 page character file with
photos and bios of each character and then I took the photos and some other
details and created a pinterest board. You can see it here: http://www.pinterest.com/elysesalpeter/the-hunt-for-xanadu/
Q:If you could meet one of your
characters for lunch, who would you want to hang out with and what would you
want to talk about?
A:I would absolutely love to hang
out with my female lead protagonist, Kelsey Porter. She is this strong,
brilliant, tough girl, but underneath is so vulnerable. I’d love to talk to her
about her time in Tibet studying with the monks and some of the missions she’s
gone on that the book does not discuss.
Q:What’s the best advice on writing
that you’ve ever been given?
A:To stop worrying about what other
people think and just write. Fear stalls writers so many times. Thinking that
they will be judged, but the fact is, we will be judged. Putting anything
creative in the field is a very brave step and the advice was that “you won’t
please everyone, but if you can find one person that enjoys your work, you’re a
success.”
Q:What are some of your favorite
curse words?
A:Phnops. My mom made it up.
Pronounce it Fuh-nops. It can be used in place of any curse. Drop a can on your
foot? PHNOPS! See?
Thank you so much for allowing me this interview, Elyse.

About the Featured Novel-

The
Hunt for Xanadu- Fantasy Thriller

Twenty-two
year old Kelsey Porter has dedicated her life to avenging the death of her
parents,

murdered
in their quest to find the mystical land of Xanadu. Before she can locate the
murderers,

she
has to discover their motives for the brutal crime and finds herself at the
epicenter of a Buddhist

mystery
as old as time. With the help of her companion, Detective Desmond Gisborne, she
hunts the

killers
across the globe and discovers a darkness in her spiritual past that tests the
very limits of her soul.

Soon
she realizes that it is not she who is doing the hunting, but the one being
hunted. Kelsey must find

This review is from: The Hunt for Xanadu (The Kelsey Porter
Series) (Kindle Edition)

"The
Hunt for Xanadu" by Elyse Salpeter is a fast paced thriller in which a
young woman, Kelsey, pursues the killers of her parents.
Her parents were murdered while trying to find the mythical land of Xanadu and
the story's fantasy elements owe much to mythology rather than vampires and
werewolves.
Accompanied by Detective and love interest Desmond her quest for revenge turns
into something more profound. The personal development of a young woman with a
horrid past, confronted with Buddhist beliefs and ancient demons makes for some
great reading. I loved the character depth while the action part of the story
also never lets you go.
The book is well written with a good storyline, strong narrative and
interesting characters.

Other Amazon reviews-

“Don't
make any plans for a few hours once you pick up this book! Salpeter takes you
on a fast - paced ride in "The Hunt for Xanadu." This novel is a
smartly written action/fantasy as the story weaves between both this world and
Buddhist mythology. Heroine Kelsey Porter is a powerhouse with feet of clay,
which I found to be endearing. Very well done! I'm looking forward to another
adventure with Kelsey Porter”

“All
I can say is prepare yourself for an intense ride thru a realm of real life
peppered with fantasy. This is one book you just can't put down. Kelsey will
take you thru the gambit of intrigue and fantasy will some real life romance
thrown in for good measure.
You will enjoy this read for sure. Bravo Elyse Salpeter, Bravo!”